Page 2 of Pleasured By the Panther
“I know, honey—I know. You’ll be there,” Miranda said soothingly. “We’ll all be there.”
Unfortunately, that included Hanna’s father—Miranda’s ex—and his new wife. He’d left Miranda for her six months ago, and the two of them were already expecting a baby.
To be honest, Miranda suspected that Jolene—that was the name of the new wife—had gotten pregnant even before Martin left her. She was fully twenty-five years younger than Miranda herself and had an unbearably smug attitude with absolutely no shame at all about being a husband-stealing home-wrecker.
Hanna had offered not to invite them to the wedding, but Miranda knew she was close to her dad. Even though Martin had been a lousy husband, he’d been a pretty good father, and Hanna wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t walk her down the aisle.
So she’d told her daughter not to worry about it. She would just have to suck it up and endure Jolene’s smug looks and pregnant belly and Martin’s sly, cheating grin. He clearly thought he’d won in the game of life, getting rid of his old, used-up wife and finding a brand new one to give him a son—which he’d always wanted.
Miranda was determined to make the best of it. She was going to wear her hair up and put on her nicest outfit. Never mind that she had gray streaks in her auburn mane and there were crows' feet around her eyes and laugh lines at the corners of her mouth. And never mind that she wasn’t exactly thin anymore—Martin could have his young, pregnant, skinny wife. (yes, even though she was pregnant, Jolene was still somehow skinny. Her whole body was thin except for the little bump in her midsection.) Anyway, her ex could have all that—Miranda was determined she would do her best to ignore them both.
She told herself she didn’t care about any of it. She was just going to go for her daughter and to make sure everything went smoothly. She wasn’t even going to look at Martin and Jolene or pay any attention to them, so?—
“But what if they make me go up there—to the Monstrum Mother Ship?” Hanna’s plaintive wail snapped her back to the present.
“They won’t—I’m sure they won’t.” She did her best to keep her daughter calm. “Look, I’m sure they’ll understand. We’ll just go to the Hilton early and tell whoever’s in charge what’s going on.”
Not like they had time for this Monstrum nonsense, she’d thought to herself in irritation. She and Hanna were in up to their necks in last-minute wedding planning! But rules were rules and if a woman didn’t show up to a Drafting call, she could be arrested. There was nothing to do but answer the summons and explain the situation.
But despite their plan to be early, they barely made it on time. Traffic and parking around the Hilton had been awful—apparently hundreds of women had been called. By the time Miranda and Hanna got to their seats, the event was already starting and they didn’t have time to talk to anyone in charge.
The announcer—an ancient-looking Monstrum Satyr who introduced himself as “Stor’kuum” and looked human from the waist up but had a goat’s legs from the waist down—got on the PA and explained that only a fraction of the women who were seated would be called today.
“None of you need to feel bad if your name ‘ent called, ladies,” he said, nodding his gray head—which was crowned with two thick, curving ram’s horns. “We’ve called you all because you’re the eligible females in this area, but only the ones the Goddess herself has chosen for her Monstrum Warriors will be called to come to our Mother Ship. And here’s our lovely priestess, Grandmother Tigris, to call the names the Goddess gives her.”
Miranda wasn’t sure what to think about this. She watched as an ancient-looking female Monstrum wearing a long white robe, who had the face and markings of a tiger, came forward. Was this all just chance? Beside her, Hanna was nervously massaging her purse with both hands, her eyes wide with anxiety as she stared at the Monstrum Warriors at the front of the auditorium.
Miranda had to admit, they were quite a sight. There was a huge Tauren Monstrum with horns like a bull and a broad face that looked bullish too. Like the Satyr Monstrum, he had a bull’s legs from the waist down ending in hooves. There was also a Foxen Monstrum who was covered in red fur and had a sharp face and a long, bushy red tail sticking out of his uniform trousers.
But the Monstrum who drew her eyes the most were the Felinus Monstrum—the ones who looked like big cats. There was a Lionus one with a gorgeous golden mane and one that looked like a cheetah with spots all over his fur. There was one with leopard markings as well. But the one who caught and held her attention the most looked like a black panther with gleaming, inky black fur and emerald green eyes.
Just as Miranda was studying that particular Monstrum, he turned his head and looked right at her. Her heart seemed to stop in her chest. Oh God, it was like his eyes were boring right into her soul!
No, she told herself, she must be imagining this. He was way at the front of the ballroom and she was in the back. There was no way the Panther Monstrum was staring directly at her—was he?
She pushed the thought away and tried not to notice that she was breaking out in a sweat. Damn it—now was not the time to have a hot flash! This had been happening more and more often lately. Miranda was pretty sure she was in menopause—she’d been having hot flashes and night sweats for the past year. But she didn’t need her body acting up now! She?—
And that was when Hanna’s name had been called, pushing everything else from her mind.
2
HANNA
“Hanna Slocum,” the Monstrum priestess called “Grandmother Tigris,” who was calling the draftees, said again. “Rise and present yourself—you are called as a bride.” Her voice was surprisingly strong, considering how old she looked. Her fur had faded, and her body was bent, but her golden eyes were still sharp as she scanned the audience, looking for Hanna.
Poor Hanna was about to hyperventilate. She was gripping her purse so hard Miranda thought she was in danger of tearing it in two. This kind of thing had always been her worst nightmare—being called to be the center of attention in the middle of a crowd. Once in elementary school, she’d been forced by her teacher to participate in the school spelling bee because she was an excellent speller. Hanna had begged not to be included, but the teacher had bullied her into it. And then, of course, when she’d been called on to spell a word, she’d fainted dead away.
Miranda had been called at work, and when the situation was explained, she’d gotten extremely angry.
“You know my daughter has extreme stage fright—she begged you not to make her be in that Spelling Bee. You shouldn’t have forced her to participate!” she’d told the teacher. She’d gotten Hanna moved to a new class with a more understanding teacher after that, and the rest of the year had gone smoothly. She had always been protective of her introverted daughter, and now was no exception.
“It’s okay, honey—I’ll take care of it,” she whispered.
“No, I should…should talk for myself,” Hanna whispered back. But she was already looking pale and sick—Miranda didn’t want her fainting and hitting her head right before the wedding.
“No, I’ve got it,” she said quickly.
Then she rose and raised her voice.
